Favorite Park to Photograph - Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation

OutdoorPhoto.com · 12-02-2001, 07:53 PM

Texas offers many opportunities to the nature and outdoor photographer. Whether you're a professional photographer or a weekend warrior with a disposable camera, I'm interested in knowing which of Texas' state parks you enjoy photographing the most and why...

I look forward to your responses.

Shannon · 12-05-2001, 07:51 PM

My favorite parks for photo opportunities center around unique sights -- Enchanted Rock SNA's pink granite domes; Padre Island National Seashore's white dunes and spectacular sunrises; Hill Country State Natural Area's classic Texas hills and wild scrub; Big Bend National Park -- well, that goes without saying!

All the parks have beautiful photographic opportunities -- places like Choke Canyon State Park offer fabulous wildlife viewing, for instance.

I, too, look forward to what others find to be their favorite Texas parks for photography...

:cool:

01-30-2002, 09:12 PM

As far as favorite Texas Parks to photograph go...I 'm afraid it begins and ends with Big Bend (even though it is a National and not a State Park). I could literally spend years shooting that place and still not get it all.

As for Texas State Parks: Mineral Wells SP will get you some cool rock climbing shots (if you are in North Texas and don't want to drive down to the Hill Country) and I've gotten some good bluebonnets shots at Cedar Hill SP.

Also, for those who want to head north a little bit I would suggest the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. It's great to shoot or just to visit.

Kent
http://www.OutdoorFlix.com

Shannon · 02-06-2002, 06:39 PM

Excellent recommendations, Kent. We haven't visited Mineral Wells yet; however, you may already have viewed our Big Bend slideshow of photos taken during our weeklong Big Bend camping trip in October 2001. Having taken literally more than 600 photos between the two of us during that trip, I can definitely agree with your assessment of Big Bend as king for photographers (and backpackers, and wildlife watchers, and...

)

Since you mentioned Oklahoma (which we haven't visited yet), I wanted to mention that Arkansas has some beautiful parks. My favorites within a day's drive (10-12 hours) of San Antonio are Petit Jean State Park, Mount Nebo and the Ouachita National Forest. Gorgeous parks, good facilities and a small state population so the park's are not as heavily visited as our Texas State Parks. I liked it so much, I posted one "on location" trip report in 1998 from our trip to Queen Wilhelmina State Park & Mt. Nebo State Park. The official Arkansas State Parks site has a lot of useful info. -- similar to our own Texas Parks & Wildlife Department site.

02-09-2002, 06:26 PM

I've been to both Petit Jean & Queen Wilhelmina. They great. Another good one in Arkansas is Devil's Den State Park. They've got some good caving opportunities.

Kent
http://www.OutdoorFlix.com

Shannon · 03-08-2002, 11:02 AM

We spent our honeymoon and the following week at Petit Jean State Park in December 1998. A couple years prior, we almost made it up to Devil's Den but ran out of time (we had been staying with a relative who lived in Little Rock, at the time).

There are so many beautiful places in America and throughout the world it sometimes amazes me we aren't all paralyzed with indecision about where to go and what to do on our next vacation or bit of free time.

I love Texas, but I've been to almost none of the "great National Parks in the US" yet, and I hope to rectify that as time goes on. The only one I can say I have had a good taste of (and would love to spend MUCH more time in) is Rocky Mountain NP in Colorado. Justin and his brother snow-shoed there several years ago; sadly, I couldn't join them, and I've been wanting to go on my first-ever snow-snoeing trip ever since.

06-02-2002, 09:27 PM

Great forum. I have taken many of my favorite photographs along the Guadalupe, Medina, Blanco, Sabinal, Nueces, and Frio rivers in the Hill Country. There are many low water crossing which get you close to the trees and water. The Fall is my favorite time.

In the spring I like the Willow Springs loop north of Fredericksburg. Lots of Granite outcrops and fields of Bluebonnets. Washington County is also great in the Spring.

Right about now, the black eyed susans are in bloom in Central Texas. The drive south of Glen Rose was just great last week.

Bob

Shannon · 01-18-2003, 02:51 PM

Now that Justin has his pilot's license (since March 10, 2002), I am discovering that all my favorite parks look distinctly new again when photographing them from the air. As soon as I can make the time, I have several hundred aerial photos to post on WildTexas.com of parks such as Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Lake Buchanan, Choke Canyon State Park, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Matagorda Island, Mustang Island, Goose Island State Park, Garner State Park and others. It's a different world up there... and reminds me just how fragile some of our parklands are, bounded on all sides by encroaching development -- new roadways, housing, commercial enterprises, etc.

09-18-2003, 08:00 PM

My favorite isn't a National or State Park. It's Aransas Wildlife Preserve. My favorite animal to shoot pictures of is the American Alligator. Every time my husband and I go there, we see numerous alligators and I get several pictures.

Gwenna

Shannon · 09-18-2003, 09:25 PM

If you like alligators and Aransas NWR (it's run by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as a National Wildlife Refuge), you should try to visit Brazos Bend State Park sometime. LOTS of alligators and in close quarters, too -- saw so many right off the trail, and some literally on the hiking trail ahead of us, that I began to wonder if there shouldn't be right of way signage to indicate alligator interstates that were invisibly running across some trails.

Brazos also offers up lots of great shorebirds and songbirds, as well as hawks. Just an all around great, wild park. I haven't checked out the observatory there, but they do star parties and such so that's another unique feature to keep in mind.

09-19-2003, 08:49 PM

Brazos Bend is on my list of places to go to. It's not that far from where I live. A friend of mine goes there frequently with her camera and has shown me some beautiful pictures of alligators as well as numerous different birds. I'll post pictures from the future trip, whenever that will be.
Thank You,
Gwenna